MLB 13: The Show To Have Vote for Cover Athlete; Feature New Playoff Mode

SCEA announced today that the cover of MLB 13: The Show will be decided through a fan voting campaign. That tactic has been used more frequently in recent years as companies have realized it is an easy way to create fan engagement and high levels of awareness in games far in advance of their respective releases. The cover voting will begin in January which seems to be cutting it really close however given the release set for March 5.

The first features have also been announced for MLB 13. There will be an all-new Playoff mode which will include special atmosphere unique to the post-season. There will also be a “beginner” mode to make the game easier on those who are not already fully accustomed to it.

With no direct competition to be concerned with, and no MLB game on the Xbox 360 at all now, The Show will have the baseball world all to itself – though it has dominated in recent years regardless. Check out the first screenshots of the game here and leave any thoughts on the first news for MLB 13: The Show in the comments!

Important? Absolutely… But major? They’re not going to put “Improved Free Agency” on the back of a box as a selling point.

Those are the types of things that are only going to matter to the most hardcore player.

Keith.

Even a lot of hardcore players couldn’t tell you what else needs to be added to free agency, etc., other than maybe a fresh coat of paint.

Riposte

I’d enjoy double-headers and rain-outs being added. I remember games getting rained-out in the older 2K games and I enjoyed that.

Keith.

Speaking of their presentation overhaul, I loved their move towards even more of a TV broadcast feel last year and can’t wait to see what they have in store in that area this year. The TV broadcast improvements are something that can’t really be captured all that great in a screenshot.

mcmax3000

Visually, their presentation is great. The TV style camera angles, and overlays are fantastic.

It’s on audio that their presentation could use some work. The commentary they have is decent, but it needs A LOT more of it. It gets too repetitive.

Keith.

I’m always surprised to hear people complain about The Show’s audio. Because they’ve used the same announcers the last few years, it had the “same” sound to it. But having played close to a full season this year, I was continually amazed by the new stuff I heard them say all the way through the playoffs.

They’ve already announced a new member in the broadcast booth this year so hopefully it becomes a moot point. In the future, though, I’d love to see them make additional broadcast teams available (even if it was through paid DLC). It would be awesome to have different broadcast teams working different series/days of the week.

mcmax3000

I would probably pay a bit of money for additional commentary teams, especially if I could get the broadcasters that do my favourite team’s games here on TV. I’d definitely pay for that.

I don’t have a problem with them using the same commentary team every year, and you’re right that there is some new stuff that pops up throughout the year, but there’s also quite a bit of stuff that repeats. I’d actually like to see them stick to the same commentary team, and just add more lines for almost all situations to help avoid repeating.

The Show’s audio is far from bad, it could just be better.

194DO

After last year theyre going to have to do a lot more than that to get me to buy it again.

Taylor S

Suprised that they are all alnone for the moment, though EA could buy both contracts. I hope they don’t cause The Show will continue to improve with no competion unlike 2k basketball and Madden football have done for years.

http://pastapadre.com/ pastapadre

MLB wants too much for the third party license. They’ll have to come down on their demands for EA (or anyone for that matter) to come back in.

Keith.

Love that they’ve added a playoff mode. The Best sports game on the market just keeps getting better. Also glad to hear all the new features will be on the Vita.

jake

lol. i can only imagine what youd say if ea announces madden 14 with a playoff mode as the big new feature.

metalhead mick

Hmm… a football game that sucks vs an awesome baseball game, both with playoff modes. Gee, what would you imagine he’d say?

Keith.

I’d probably call it lipstick on a pig, which is what it would be (in Madden’s case). With The Show, it’s more like a cherry on top.

Bubba

Hopefully they have changed their stale championship celebration this year

Stinkbait

Additions to Franchise PLEASE!!!

Jarod

Was gonna buy MLB12, but decided against it, even for $15 I won’t buy it. Hoping MLB13 will be good enough to get me to buy it.

JP27

alright… have u even played the show?

Keith.

My guess is he doesn’t even have a PS3.

http://www.facebook.com/stephen.coelho.3 Stephen Coelho

MLB The Show is quality game every year, i think the addition of a playoff atmosphere is exciting. Real baseball fans dont need unique features for them to appreciate such a pure baseball game.

Keith.

Amen.

http://www.facebook.com/stephen.coelho.3 Stephen Coelho

Look at the screenshots they have nike apparel in it this year!

mcmax3000

When I saw those screenshots earlier, I honestly wasn’t sure if I was looking at MLB 13, or MLB 12, especially with the Bautista image, because they did an almost identical shot last year. At least with MLB: The Show, the game looks fantastic, so looking the same visually year after year isn’t a bad thing.

Playoff mode is sorely needed. As good as the core gameplay is, when I played through a season in MLB 12, and got to the playoffs, I was extremely disappointed by the lack of any kind of feeling of importance to those games. They felt like just another regular season game.

The rest is meaningless right now. The beginner mode is a great idea, but nothing that I’m concerned with having played the game the past few years, and the drastic changes to Franchise, and Road to the Show is something they pretty much claim every year, so it’s not really possible to take anything from that until we get more details.

The way they handled a couple of things last year (mainly the online home run derby crap) really left a bad taste in my mouth, which is a shame, because the actual game was fantastic as always, so unless they do something major this year, I’m probably passing on this one, but I’m sure it will be another great game from a gameplay standpoint.

smsixx

I knew it was 13 screenshots from the get go…
Im a Tigers fan and noticed that the new scoreboard had been added (it was still the old one on last years game even though they had re-modeled prior to the season starting).

mcmax3000

Ah. I’m a Blue Jays fan, so I didn’t have any reference like that, since I don’t think anything of note has changed in the Skydome since last year.

Amen_Ra

Game was a major let down last year. I traded it back after 2-3 months. This game pulls the same cheese Madden does with the limited improvements, but folks keep giving them a pass.

49ersfan1

MVPOSEY

Tyrone Carter

Get ESPN’s copyrights to make it look like a ESPN broadcast. Also, they should have Legends on the cover like 2k did with NBA 2k series. Like Hank Aaron, Cy Young etc. Or include multiple cover athletes.

Tyrone Carter

Add a legends mode that allos us to replay legendary moments like ‘the catch’, or Joe Carter’s homerun in the 1993 world series. Or Barry Bond’s record breaking home run. etc. That would be a welcome addition.

RedSox2415

They should upgrade the Homerun Derby Mode to include the Gold “Money” Balls which are thrown when the batter is down to their final out. Each homerun hit with the golden balls earns money for charity. This should be incorporated as a trophy for raising a certain amount of money. Also they should bring back Hall of Fame teams (MVP Baseball Series Era). Additionally they could upgrade the Road to the Show mode to be more interactive (Media Interviews, Twitter Feed, Equipment Sponsorships, Advertising Campaigns, Salary used to purchase better equipment/stat boosts)